


A Shared Interest

by afteriwake



Series: Sometimes Fate Intervenes [1]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Books, Family Issues, First Meetings, Flirty Ben, Horrified Sulu, Korean Characters, Korean Food, Korean-Japanese Character(s), M/M, Meet-Cute, Mentions of homophobia, Pre-Relationship, Reading Over The Shoulder, Shared Interests, Smooth Ben, Sulu Thinking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-11
Updated: 2017-01-11
Packaged: 2018-09-16 20:00:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9287585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: After Hikaru delivers an ultimatum to his family about accepting him as he is, he winds up meeting the man who is going to change his life in a way he never expects.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [GreenSkyOverMe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GreenSkyOverMe/gifts).



> So this is a fic for **GreenSkyOverMe** who wanted a fic inspired by [this post](http://otp-imagination.tumblr.com/post/141237581700) from **otp-imagination** on Tumblr with Sulu and Ben as the couple. I kind of want to expand on this a bit because I like the idea of them having this courtship we never got to see, so this is going to be the start of a new series.
> 
> Also, because John Cho is Korean but Hikaru Sulu is a Japanese name, I am going with him having both cultures as his heritage for things to make more sense. It will be explained more later in the series.

“Could I sit here? All the other tables are full.”

The old woman at the table gave Sulu a mild glare and her immediately moved away from the table. Well, this wasn’t going to be his day to get to sit down at a table, it seemed. It always seemed to be this way when he visited his family and then made his much-needed escape. Even though things had changed, there were still parts of his family that held to the deep-rooted Korean ways. One would think that after everything that had gone on in history, homophobia would have been buried in the past with most of the other plagues of society. But even now, a few things lingered.

“Hate the sin but love the sinner” was an old term he still heard whispered in corners of his family who disapproved of him. He had been a rising star in school, a top fencer in the country. He had made a name for himself at Starfleet Academy and had been hailed a hero with the rest of the Enterprise crew not once but _twice-over_ thanks to Captain Kirk. But did that matter to those in his family who staunchly held to old ways, to old views?

No.

He knew they didn’t love the sinner. All they saw was the sin. But it was part of who he was. They hated him. It didn’t really matter now, though. Today he’d informed his family he would be on the next mission the Enterprise undertook, being in deep space for five years. And he had delivered an ultimatum: accept me for who I am, every part, or you will no longer be in my life. I will cut you out as easily as you cut rot from a piece of vegetable that still has worth. I have worth, and I do not need your rot clinging to me.

It had been hard to say, but it had needed to be said.

And now he needed fresh air, good food and solitude.

Eventually, he moved to a bench. He glanced at the other man on it. Definitely handsome. Not exactly his type, to be honest, but handsome. He had his head buried in a book that he was reading while he balanced a bowl of japche on his lap, and he was trying to bring chopsticks full of noodles and vegetables and meat up to his mouth without dropping it on his lap or his book. Sulu sat there, entranced for a moment, until his eyes zeroed in on the book. The Library of Agricultural and Horticultural Knowledge; with a Memoir by Mr Ellman, late of Glynde, and Appendix containing a Farmer’s and Gardener’s Calendar, & a collection of useful Tables. Published in approximately 1834 of old Earth time, it was nearly impossible to find. Most copies were thought to be lost.

And he had one in his hands.

Perhaps he could sneak a peek, if he could get close enough? This was one of the books he’d dreamed of having in his horticultural reading collection. His fingers were actually itching at the thought of being so close to it, though part of him was tempted to smack some sense into the man for almost getting a strip of beef on the pages. It was priceless! Smudges of the soy sauce, rice wine and sesame oil marinade would ruin it! Didn’t he know better?

Slowly he edged over, setting his bowl of bibimbab between them and pushing it over each time he moved. When it was just by the man’s thigh he could finally look over his shoulder and read the book. It was as lovely and perfect as he had thought it would be, and he took in what he could see of the page with a look of wonder and admiration.

He finished, but he realized that the page hadn’t turned. In fact, it seemed as if the man had stopped reading altogether. It took him a moment to realize that the man had stopped eating, and he turned to look at him, seeing that the man was staring straight at him. “Have you finished?” he asked, his voice as warm as the grin on his face.

“Um...yeah,” Sulu said, giving him an embarrassed grin. “Sorry. Horticulture and botany is kind of my hobby.”

“It was my study in school. My apartment is filled with books like this. I actually have two copies of this,” the man said. He paused for a moment and then handed Sulu the book. “Maybe you can borrow this one and tell me what you think later?”

Sulu’s eyes widened. “Seriously?” he asked.

Then man nodded, giving him a wider grin. “You’re Hikaru Sulu, right?”

Sulu nodded. “Yeah,” he said.

“My _halmeoni_ has been saying I should date a fine young man like Hikaru Sulu for about three years now,” the man said. “So you can tell me over dinner in a week.” He picked up his japche and then stood up. “My card is in the book.” He turned then and gave Sulu a wave as he walked away.

Sulu watched for a moment, and then turned the book over and opened the front cover, seeing a business card there. _Ben Jung,_ it read. He grinned as he looked at the card. He had the feeling dinner next week was going to be very interesting indeed.


End file.
